


laugh with the sinners

by leiascully



Series: New York AU [3]
Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-06-05
Updated: 2009-06-05
Packaged: 2017-10-03 03:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leiascully/pseuds/leiascully
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I just wanted to commemorate the occasion."</p>
            </blockquote>





	laugh with the sinners

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I'm really enjoying this lighter look at things! Title from Billy Joel's "Only The Good Die Young".   
> Disclaimer: _Battlestar Galactica_ and all related characters belong to Ronald Moore, NBC Universal, Sci-Fi Channel, and Sky One. No infringement is intended and no profit is made from this.

Lee adjusts his tie for the fortieth time as they push through the Manhattan crowds. It's almost summer now; it's hot as hell; he's definitely overdressed, but it's better than the loud shorts the tourists are wearing. He hopes.

"Stop it," Zak says, looking cool and casual in a linen blazer. "Why'd you even wear a tie?"

"We don't all look good out of uniform," Lee says.

Zak snorts. "Bro, I'm supposed to be the corporate drone. She's not gonna pay attention to your clothes. Besides, she's just a woman."

Lee glares at him and Zak grins. "Okay, she's not just a woman, she's a hell of a woman." He smiles, a private reminiscing smile that sends a pang of jealousy through Lee, and then shakes his head and claps Lee on the shoulder. "Too much for me. You go get her, tiger."

"You knew her first," Lee says uncertainly. "Are you sure you don't..."

Zak holds up his hands. "Kara's too much for me, buddy. Besides, you'd only come along and steal her, just like all my other girlfriends."

"I didn't!" Lee protests. "Except that once."

"Once is all it takes," Zak says. "Look, Kara's incredible. A real live wire. In any other life, I'd brawl for her. But I've got a good thing going right now with work and all and I wanna keep going. Kara's amazing, but she's the apocalypse."

"The apocalypse?" Lee says skeptically.

"Oh yeah," Zak says. "Get close to her and your life is over. In the best way, though." He punches Lee gently on the arm. "Seriously, though, stop fussing. We're almost there. You've gotta look like you don't care."

Lee sighs. He shifts the box under his arm. "You sure about these?" He takes it out and opens the lid. "I mean, I thought women liked real flowers." Inside are four roses wrought out of heavy wire and glass beads that he found in some hole in the wall in the Village around Christmas and bought just in case.

"I told you," Zak says, "she'll love 'em. She's not a real hearts and flowers kind of woman."

"Yeah," Lee says. "Yeah, okay."

"You okay, bro?" Zak says. "I don't think I've ever seen you this way before."

"I'm fine," Lee says defensively. "Why? Do I look nervous?"

Zak laughs. He pushes open a door and ushers Lee in. They take the stairs, one flight up, to a huge room with a high ceiling. The stark white walls are hung with Kara's art. The room is crowded with people dressed for effect, most of them carrying glasses of wine or cocktails, but Kara is the center of the room, and the whole place orbits around her. She is wearing a black sheath dress, her hair messily put up, and Lee sees stars again for a second. It's like high school all over again - the clutch of his heart when he sees her, the sudden awkwardness of his hands and feet, the swoop of his stomach like the gravity's changed on him.

"Zakary!" Kara barks like a chic drill sergeant. "Get your skinny ass over here."

"Sunny my girl!" Zak says back. He slips an arm around her waist and spins her around, kissing her on the cheek. Lee tries to swallow away the tight knot of jealousy in his throat.

"Took you two long enough to show up," Kara says, her eyes locked on Lee's. She raises one eyebrow at him and the jealousy melts away. "Lee, why are you wearing a tie?"

"Seemed like the thing to do," he says as Zak sets her on her feet again. "Dress to impress."

"You're impressing an awful lot of people without even dressing," she says, nodding to the painting so big it almost takes up an entire wall; if he hadn't had eyes only for her, he'd probably be dead of embarrassment by now, because there he is, at least three times as large as life. He'd swear his abs aren't that chiseled, and his skin definitely doesn't glow with that perfect tan, but there he is, guiding a chariot pulled by four gleaming horses.

"Apollo," Kara says, sidling up next to Lee, her arms crossed and her wine glass loose in her fingers.

Zak whistles. "You're big time, bro. K, how much for that one? I want to send it to Dad."

Kara laughs and it goes all through Lee like a shot of whiskey. "More than you can afford, Zakary. Besides, he was sold long before the show opened." She sips from her wine. "Private collection."

"I can't believe you sold me," Lee says.

She smirks. "You didn't think that was for personal use?"

Zak grins. "He was hoping."

"Come back," Kara says. "We'll do a series."

"Only if he gets a cut," Zak says. "Forty percent."

"Thirty," Kara says.

"Forty!" Zak insists.

"It's good to know I don't have to be part of this negotiation," Lee says. "Maybe I should go before I get mobbed by my new adoring fans."

Kara catches his arm as Zak laughs. "Stick around, Lee," she says. "Enjoy your glory a little. You haven't even told me what's in the box."

Zak looks around the room. "I'm gonna get a drink, browse a little, see if there's anything in my budget. You two enjoy yourselves."

Kara turns to him as soon as Zak is gone. "What's in the box?"

"Can't I even get a drink?" Lee protests half-heartedly, stalling. What if she hates the roses? He'll feel like an idiot. At least people seem to like his godly incarnation on the wall. Maybe that'll redeem the night.

Kara hands him her glass. "What's in the box?"

Lee sighs and hands it over. "Nothing big. Just thought...I just felt like I should commemorate the occasion."

"You're sweet, Lee," she says, untying the ribbon as he swigs from her wine to cushion the blow. "Too sweet for your own good."

"You haven't even seen it yet," he says, balking.

"It rattles," she says, holding it to her ear. "That's a good sign." The ribbon curls softly past her face. Lee wants to touch her skin and feel the silk under his fingertips too. He takes another big swallow of wine as she opens the box. She looks at the roses, considering them, and then kisses him. Her mouth is perfect, demanding and warm, and the kiss hits him like the adrenaline rush of the first time he took off in a plane.

"You did good work there, Apollo," she says when she draws back.

"Hell of a thank you note, Starbuck," he says, a little disoriented. "Or should I call you Sunny?"

She wrinkles her nose in digust. "I lost a bet."

"Is that a story I should hear?" Lee slips an arm around her waist, waiting to be pushed away, but she leans against him lightly.

"Maybe later," she says.

"So you like them?" he says.

"Iron roses," she says. "Very creative. E for effort."

"Thorny but gorgeous," he says. "Tough. Rusts in the rain."

She steps on his foot deliberately. "If that was your attempt to get into my pants, you need to work on your game."

"Comparing you to iron isn't doing it for you?" he teases. It's funny about her: he's comfortable and off-kilter all at once, like he's known her.

"Better than gold," she says. "At least you're creative. Keep going."

"Have to get it hot to do anything with it," he says. "Not that I have a problem with that."

"You'll have to wait a few hours," she says. "Big talker."

He kisses her ear. "Obligations to your adoring public."

She nods at the Apollo painting. "They adore you too. Look at that."

They stand there together, watching the crowd circulate.


End file.
